Eyebright
by slurredspeech
Summary: When you've been best friends for five years, sometimes it takes a school musical to help you see what everyone else already knew.


**You know when you get an idea in your head and it won't leave you alone? That's what this is. I promise the chapters will get longer further in.  
>Disclaimer- I own nothing. Not getting paid. Dum de dum. <strong>

It's 6.30 on a Monday night and instead of doing homework I'm Skype-ing my best friend. We're ignoring the fact that we only live ten minutes away from each other.  
>"Edward, what is going on with your hair?" Bella says, doing some sort of spiking action at the top of her head. I laugh and shake my attempted quiff out with my fingers. I've been unhappy with my hair for weeks and so I've employed Bella as my hair-truther. Basically this means I do whatever hairstyle I can think of and then she tells me if it looks like crap or not.<br>"Not this one either?" I whine. Bella shakes her head in front of her webcam.  
>"Honestly, your normal hair is best. You don't need all this fancy stuff," she says.<br>"I just wanna try something different. Speaking of, have you decided where you want to go for dinner on Friday?"  
>Every few weeks we go for dinner in Port Angeles to have 'intellectual' conversations about our education and future plans. This definitely turns into Bella talking about various boys and me talking about some girls. We're major closet gossips.<br>"I don't know! We've pretty much been everywhere. That little Chinese restaurant looks quite nice…" she says, staring intently at her computer screen as if she's clicking around on a website. I wonder what she's looking at.  
>"What do you fancy?" she asks, imitating a posh English accent. This was our thing a couple of years ago. We just went round with really bad British accents for months.<br>_You,_ I think in reply to her question, but I don't say it. I shrug.  
>"Chinese sounds good; you can tell me the latest on Messy Jessie and Tyler." I smirk. Bella makes a face at me through the camera. Jessica 'Jessie' Stanley and Tyler 'Bella's Ex' Crowley have just started dating and Jessica loves to spread their sordid secrets around the girls changing rooms.<br>"Ergh, don't remind me, I have to eat in five minutes." She glances in the direction of her bedroom door, chewing her lip. Bella's mom is really strict with meal times. I've never understood it but in the three years I've known her, Bella's never been late for a family meal. Ever.  
>"Definitely on for Friday. I'll see you tomorrow," she says, clicking at her mouse.<br>"See ya," I reply, and she logs off. I sigh. She's getting busier and busier with senior year stuff and I seem to just be getting behind. Lately I've kind of really started to like her, like her, but I don't know if it's just that she's getting more into guys than she used to be. We've known each other for five years since my family moved to be close to my aunt's family, so I don't know why these feelings would happen now of all times. Maybe I'm just jealous. Maybe it's just some psychological shit like I want my best friend to just be there for me all the time. Either way it bothers me way more than it used to when we have our love-life chats and she stares wistfully into the distance or whatever about some college guy her friends have introduced her to. I'm also hoping she hasn't noticed I mention a lot less girls than usual.  
>I realise I'm still staring at the blank laptop screen, and close it down before going in search of my mom and therefore dinner.<p>

The next morning I'm sitting in my car in the school parking lot as usual, waiting until the last possible minute before having to go to my first class. There's a knock on my passenger window which I think is maybe my cousin and close friend Emmett who sometimes sits on the hood of the car eyeing up girls like a barbarian, but it's way too delicate and quiet to be him. I turn to look and it's Bella, she's all made up and has some ridiculous band thing around her head, making her curly hair look even more unruly than usual.  
>"New look?" I smirk as I roll the window down. She reaches her arm in and flicks open the door in one quick move, and sits down.<br>"Asshole. Method acting, auditioning for the school musical," Bella says, settling into the seat. She perches a leg on my dashboard and takes a lone cigarette out of her jean pocket. Popping it into her mouth unlit, she looks at me and pouts her lips.  
>"I wanna be Sandy. It's Grease. What do you think?" I realise she's dressed as Hot Sandy from the end of the film, all long legs in ripped skinny jeans and heels and a little leather jacket even though it's boiling out. Her lips are dark red like wine. She looks hot. But there's still an air of innocence about her as she purses her lips, cigarette still dangling. With a tickle of fear in my chest I decide I want to grab the cigarette, throw it out the window and kiss her. Instead I nod my head sadly and say "You look amazing, break a leg."<br>As she sits up she looks at me and runs her hand through the top of my hair, shaking it slightly.  
>"There you go," she says, popping my mirror down for me. I have to admit it looks alright.<br>"You could be Danny!" Bella snorts. I'm a terrible singer. And actor. We both know I'll never be in any kind of school production.  
>I grin and we jump out of the car and head into the building, Bella's heels clicking away.<br>"I'm so bad at being a girl," she laughs as she stumbles across the uneven slabs at the front of school. Gripping onto her arm I lead her into reception and gently push her to face the auditorium, leaning down slightly to hug her. She winces when she sees the queue of girls dressed up as wannabee-Sandys, many looking just like her. I keep hold of her for just a little longer in an attempt to be reassuring.  
>"Maybe I should have just come prepared for Rizzo or something…" she ponders.<br>"You'll blow them away. You always do," I whisper. She's an amazing actress but she's only been in a couple of the school productions, preferring the little drama club she goes to in Port Angeles, a town about an hour away.  
>Before I can stop myself I've given her a little kiss below her ear and she giggles and totters off down the corridor, throwing her head back to look at me briefly.<br>I can't tell if she's blushing or if it's her make up, but I'm feeling pretty good as I head to Biology anyway.

**Thank you for reading.**


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